They don’t mean asteroids

Just back from Philadephia, about to get on a plane for DUX, but I wanted to hip you to something you’ll surely want to check out if you’re anywhere close to Cambridge MA on November 10th: an innovative event at Harvard GSD called “Space Rocks.”

Space Rocks is a one-day unsymposium dedicated to exploring depictions of spatial conditions in contemporary art and design, with a distinctly trans-Pacific flavor lent to it by its provenance – it’s being held under the auspices of student group AsiaGSD. You know all this is already red meat for me, but what seals the deal is that speaker list.

First and most importantly, yeah buddy, Nurri’s giving a rare North American presentation of her Tokyo Blues work. This is a series for which Nurri spent over two years documenting the myriad ways in which that humblest of materials, the standard blue vinyl construction tarp, is used to make space in Japan’s largest city. It’s almost dizzying to see all of the things this one abject sheet can become, from communal cherry-blossom viewing platforms meant to last an afternoon, to personal shelters so ingenious they make you question whether “homeless” is even a relevant word to use in describing their occupants. It’s amazing stuff, she rarely shows the whole series, and you shouldn’t miss this chance. (If you’re not able to make it to Cambridge, fear not: some of the work will be gracing a volume on temporary architecture due out on MIT Press next year.)

I’m also looking forward to seeing what presenters like Brooklyn Foundry, Dana Cho of IDEO’s Smart Space practice and Actar’s Irene Hwang have to share with us – it should be a dense and fascinating day, and I hope to see you there.